Naked & Famous
-
@Geo:
. . . thing is most peeps buy what they think is good denim and then learn what is good denim . . . mostly it's an iterative process - sometimes you get lucky and start with IH, but most of us start elsewhere and end up with IH
we shouldn't criticize the journey . . . but we should celebrate the destination
tbh, there's nothing wrong with N&F imo, yes, Iron Hearts are better, but forum members still buy flathead. It depends on what you're looking for. I do prefer IH to N&F of course. But, I'm not going to actively discriminate against N&F solely because IH is better.
-
Contacted Brandon Svarc at Naked and Famous by email to get a list of local retailers. Brandon replied very rapidly and was super helpful with a great list of stores in my area. I wanted to give a local/Canadian denim artist a chance at my dollars before shopping out-of-town (Naked and Famous only assembles the jeans in Montreal, Canada it's still Japanese denim). I'll admit that I'd already been telling people for months that I wanted a pair of Iron Hearts.. Uncle Otis was my retailer of choice. Many thanks to them for letting me into the shop looking like I did straight from work.. My objective was to try a pair on with the money in my pocket. Toronto has issues with stocking heavy denim in the summer season. I tried on the heaviest pair i could find (below 17oz) size 36 in the "Weird Guy" cut (closest to my normal cut). I Didn't do well in the 80's with tapered legs and little has changed. It also seemed that the pockets were sliding down my legs.. I guess was born to wear a straight cut (They don't seem to do it)… I only touched the one pair of N&F jeans but noted a funny bit in the crotch seam (I had been warned to follow the seams and watch the sewing).. These jeans would have worn great and the seam issue I'm being a picky fart about would never have caused a defect. In the end I think i felt like I was trying to settle for my second choice. That said, it was a huge ton of work to find out about the product and then get your hands on it. There were styles I liked that I never even had the option to buy(never found in correct size/style)..In the end Uncle Otis offered to try and order me anything Iron Heart made it very easy to buy. They offered many payment options and had an understandable list of stocked items.
Again Brandon was a great sport. -
I have two pairs of N&F denim: -Slim guy "Black Selvedge" 29W, and -Slim guy "Broken Twill Selvedge" 28W.
I got them this year from Barneys ($70), and Tobi ($73), respectively, both 50% off.
They are 13oz japanese (where?) selvedge denim.
The black selvedge has a zipper fly, the broken twill has a button fly.
I am quite pleased with the way these jeans have worn, the broken twill fits me better than any pair of jeans I have (straight AND slim), and the creases on both pairs are now totally set and fading quickly.
The problem I have with these jeans is that the crotch inseam is weak and tears easily. On IH and other brands, the inside leg seam is "over, under" (I do not know the terminology here), with one edge overlapped over the other and then sewn, whereas with N&F, the inside leg seam is "tucked under", with both edges lined up, folded inward, and then sewn from the inside, or however its done. It is the same seam that is used on the outside of the leg.
From my experience, this is the weakness of these jeans. The inside leg seam started to fray around the crotch on each leg on each pair within a few months, and now a hole has opened on both pairs. The weird thing is that the seam is still totally intact since it is sewn from the inside. It is the denim around the seam which is tearing.
Now that I have found Iron Heart, there's no going back. I'm still wearing both of these N&F, and both of my Nudies, but they have been officially demoted. No hard feelings, they just don't compete with this level of craftsmanship.
-
Wow, long weekend Spent in Saint Jovite / Mont Tremblant. Found a little shop at 1245 Rue de Saint Jovite. Clearout prices on some N&F Denim / Unbranded.. Mostly ladies. I got two pair of guys jeans.. This pic shows how nice and glossy the Unbranded are.. (It's not a stain)
The price was so good on the Unbranded ones I bought them just to hem and ship to my friends son.. (Let's get 'em hooked young!) P.S. I put the N&F on ebay to fund my IH addiction….. -
On this same trip, in the same store I found a sweater for me lady.
Nice tag… It's like a little mini history lesson.. It reads:
The fabric you see here, is knit on old machines called Tsuri (suspended) Cirular Knitting Machines. These machines were used in the 1800s in Europe to make fine knit fabric, but in 1910 were abandoned due to their slow productivity. The Japanese knitters were happy to grab up the last few existing machines and imported them to Wakayama, Japan. There is an estimated mere 100 of these machines still in opereation in Wakayama today! It takes approx 1 hour to make just one meter of fabric on these machines, and because of it's slow and hanging opereation, and it's specialty rare german needles, no undue tension is placed on the yarn while knitting. Because there is far less tension, the Japanese say it's almost as if they knit "air" into the fabric! -
real nice sweater. so is that supposed to be loopwheeled, but they just call it something else?
never the less, it's a good look & a great score for the lady
-
That said I paid $5.00 for a sweater with a $59.00 inked price mark under the sale price tag. Oh and the neat story on the tag.. As I've said before N&F brings some neat items to the market at great prices.. "Neat" not IH… *Also N&F have started a casual dress shirt line totaly made in Canada. Totaly local production wins hearts..
